Cash-register.



E. J. VON PEIN.

CASH REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4, 1913.

1,131,754, Patented Mar.16, 1915.

F/Z-ZZ 4 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

vwamkoz WWWM Edward {V522 P6171 THE NORRIS PETERS CO PHOTO-LITHU..WASHINGTON. D. Cv

E. J. VON PEIN.

CASH REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4, 1913.

1,181,754.. Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

mmmtoz wane/Mes dura/df/nPci/z EDWARD J. VON PEIN, OF

COMPANY, OF DAYTON,

DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL CASH REGISTER OHIO, A CORPORATIONOF OHIO, (INCORPORATED IN 1906.)

CASH-RE GISTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

Application filed June 4, 1913. Serial No. 771,595.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD J. VON PEIN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county ofMontgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cash-Registers, of which I declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in cash registers or accountingmachines and has more particular relation to mechanisms in whichindependent cash receptacles are provided for the respective clerks forkeeping their cash separate and placing the responsibility for mistakesor shortages on the proper clerks.

In the accompanying drawings and the description given below theimprovement is shown as embodied in a register of the type described inUnited States Letters Patent No. 580,378, granted April 13th, 1897, toJ. l. Cleal and F. A. Reinhard, with multiple drawers and multipledrawer operating mechanism, as shown in United States Letters Patent No.616,866, granted December 27th, 1898, to \V. F. Bockhoff, attachedthereto. However these devices are used for illustrative purposes onlyand it is not the intention to limit the use of the improvement to anyone style of register or to any particular type of drawer cabinet. Theinventive idea is one that can be embodied in various forms in otheraccounting mechanisms having a plurality of cash receptacles, or it canbe adapted to use in a machine having but a single receptacle.

The main object of this invention is to provide mechanism that will,when desired, prevent the operation of a multiple drawer register unlessall of the drawers are closed.

Vith this and incidental. objects in view, the invention consists incertain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, theessential elements of which are set forth in appended claims, and apreferred form of embodiment of which is hereinafter described withreference to the drawings which accompany and form part of thespecification.

Figure 1 is a right side elevation of a register showing the usuallocking mechanism. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the register partlybroken away showing parts of the improvement assembled in position. Fig.3 is a detail showing the lock and some of the parts controlling thedevice. Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing part of the improvement andits operative relation to the drawers. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation partlybroken away of the drawer operating devices and parts of theimprovement.

Cash registers having a plurality of cash drawers are usually soconstructed that access can be had to a drawer by pressing a key orsetting some other form of manipulative device to predetermine whichdrawer is to be opened and then operating the machine. This releases thedesired drawer and during the operation records of one form or anotherare made in the various record retaining devices to show which drawerwas opened, the nature and amount of the transaction, and so on.Indicators are usually provided which indicate the record of thetransaction to the customer and enable him to tell whether thetransaction is correctly entered.

The reason for having a number of cash receptacles attached to a cashregister is to give a separate receptacle for each attendant, therebyenabling the proprietor to place individual responsibility for errorsand shortages. This he is able to do by comparing the cash in the drawerwith the records made in the machine as the various transactions areregistered. If the attendant could put money in the receptacle or removeit without any record, the proprietor would have no certainty that therecords are reliable or that he is getting all of the money to which heis entitled. A device to compel the closing of each receptacle or drawerbefore the machine can be again operated will aid in enforcing theproper record because if an attendant leaves his drawer open through anoversight, none of the other attendants can gain access to their cashdrawers until the first attendants drawer is closed. This feature isparticularly desirable, however, where there are several attendantsemployed, each having a separate drawer but only one attendant on dutyat a time. Under such circumstances the opportunity for fraud is greatlyincreased and the proprietor is compelled to rely almost wholly on thecash register for protection. If the cash drawer must be closed beforethe register can be used again, records of the transactions must beentered in the machine as they occur and the proprietors protection ismore nearly complete. It is, however, occasionally desirable to be ableto operate the register with one or more of the drawers open. For thisreason the invention provides devices controlled by a lock and key fordisabling the mechanism which looks the machine when a drawer is open.By keeping the lock key in his possession the proprietor has fullcontrol at all times over this locking mechanism.

The machine used for illustration is operated by an operating handle 1(Fig. l). A pinion 2 attached to the handle drives a large intermediategear 3 which runs idly on a stub shaft 4 fastened in the machine frame.From the intermediate gear 3 the power is transmitted to gears 5 and 6fastened to the shafts 7 and 8 running through the machine. These shaftsare the main shafts of the machine and from them all the mechanism isoperated. Attached to the side of the gear 5 is a disk indicated by adotted line 9. There is a cut 10 in the peiphery of this disk and whenthe mechanism is at normal position an extension 11 on an arm 12, whichis rigidly fastened to the shaft 13, rests in this cut 10 as shown andprevents the gear 5 from being rotated. Consequently the machine cannotbe operated until the arm 12 is drawn out of engagement with the disk 9.The machine has vertical rows of keys 14, the number of rows dependingupon the registering capacity desired, and the operation of the arm 12is usually controlled from one of these rows of keys. In Fig. 2 is shownsuch a controlling row of keys and the mechanism operated thereby forreleasing the register. Each key 14 has a cam flange 15 which actsagainst the camming incline 16 cut in the detent 17. As the keys 14 arepressed in against the tension of their springs 18 the detent 17 isswung upwardly about the shaft 19 on which it is pivoted. Fastened onthe detent 17 is a stud 20 resting under the end of a forwardlyextending arm 21 attached to the shaft 13. By following this mechanismthrough it will be seen that when a key 14 is pressed in the shaft 13will be rocked anti-clockwise in Fig. 2 or clockwise in Fig. 1 therebydrawing the extension 11 of the arm 12 out of engagement with the disk 9and permitting the operating handle 1 to be turned.

The cash drawers 25, which are in the embodiment shown arranged in twovertical rows. are held shut by their catches 22 which have formed ontheir rear ends hooks to engage drawer catch plates 23 fastened to frame36 extending across the rear of the drawers. Springs 24 hold the drawercatches 22 in engagement with the plates 23. It will readily be seenthat in order to release any desired one of the cash drawers 25 all thatis necessary is to press the end of the drawer catch 22 down so that thehook will be disengaged from the plate 23. In the operation of themachine this is done by the drawer catch trip lever 34 (Fig. in thefollowing manner :When a key 14 is pressed and the register operated, asegment 26 is differentially positioned dependent upon the key that hasbeen pressed in. The manner in which this is done is fully explained inthe Cleal and Reinhard patent above mentioned. The segment 26 has anextension 27 which is in engagement with a spur gear 28 fastened to ashaft 29. Attached to the shaft 29 is also a bevel gear 30 which isalways in mesh with another bevel gear 31. This gear 31 is splined on ashaft 32. It will readily be seen that any movement of the segment 26will be transmitted to the shaft 32, causing the shaft to rotate extentsdetermined by the movements of the segment. Helically arranged on theshaft 32 which extends vertically intermediate the rear ends of the tworows of drawers, are the drawer fingers 33, one for each drawer andthese are so positioned that when the segment 26 is stopped by a certainone of the keys 14, one of the drawer fingers 33 will be under thedrawer catch trip lever 34 for the drawer that corresponds to the keypressed. The finger shaft is next raised so that the finger 33 for thedrawer that is to be opened will rock the trip lever 34 about its pivot35, forcing the opposite end of the lever down against the end of thecatch 22 and disengaging it from the plate The drawer is then usuallyejected by a spring (not shown) provided for that purpose.

The finger shaft 32 can be raised by any one of a number of differentforms of lifting mechanism. In Fig. 2 of the drawings is shown aconventional device comprising a pitman 37, a collar 40 and a cam Theupper end of the pitman has a hook which engages the main rotary shaft 8and the pitman is held against lateral movement on the shaft by the cam38 on one side and the collar 40 on the other. An extension on the lowerend of the pitman 37 engages the collar secured to the shaft Attached tothe side of the pitman 37 is an anti-friction roller 39 resting on thecam 38 as shown. This cam is rigidly fastened to the rotary shaft 8 andas the shaft is turned during an operation of the machine the pitman 37will lift the shaft 32 and release the drawer that is to be opened.

All of the mechanism mentioned so far is old in the art and needs nomore detailed description. The reason it has been covered to any extentis because some explanation is thought necessary to make the followingdescription of the new mechanism more easily understood.

The improvement consists of devices to lock the shaft 13 so that itcannot be rocked as long as one of the cash drawers remains open. Thisis accomplished by a bell crank lever 41 which has a hook engaging anarm 42 depending from the rock shaft 13 and other parts working inconnection with the ever. The bell crank lever is always under thetension of the spring 43. It is normally held down out of engagementwith the arm 42 by a link 44 which has a slot 45 at one end engaging astud in the bell crank lever 41. The purpose of the slot 45 will beexplained later. The lower end of this pitman is pivoted at 47 to an arm71 which is fastened to a shaft 49. A rearwardly extending arm 48, whichis also attached to the shaft 49, has a circular extension 50 extendingthrough the hour-glass opening 51 in the beam 52. The beam 52 is held inthe position shown and guided in its movements by guides 53 having slots54 (Fig. 4) which permit the ends of the beam to slide freely up anddown. Attached to opposite ends of the beam are the upper ends 55 of twoseries of toggles, one series for each row of drawers, carried bybrackets 56 attached to frames 36 in the rear of the drawers. Thesetoggles are composed of short double links as shown in Figs. 4 and 5with a roller at each joint and with the sides of the links spanning thebracket, thereby holding the toggles in position. As shown in Fig. 4,the lower ends of both series of toggles are pivoted to thecorresponding brackets 56 and at each alternate joint of the toggles therolls 57 are surrounded by guide slots 58 in the supporting brackets.The alternate rolls 59 rest normally against plates attached to the backof the cash drawers 25. When one of the cash drawers opens, the togglefor the row including the opening drawer is no longer supported at thatpoint by the drawer and consequently drops, carrying the end to which itis at tached of the beam 52 in a downward direction. The other end ofthe beam is still supported by the series of toggles for the other rowof cash drawers which is not affected by the opening of a drawer notbelonging to its row, forming a pivot on which the beam turns. Thehour-glass shaped opening 51 in the beam 52 and the circular end 50 ofthe lever 48 are designed to permit its parts to accommodate themselvesto the movement just described. When either end of the beam is allowedto drop by the support of the toggle at that end being withdrawn by theopening of a drawer in the corresponding row, the rear end of the lever48 is pulled down and the link 44 allowed to rise, thereby permittingthe spring 43 to rock the bell crank lever 41 about the shaft 29 onwhich it is pivoted and the hook on the upper extension of the leverwill engage the arm 42 fastened to the rock shaft 13, preventing anymovement of the shaft and making the machine inoperable. Closing thedrawer forces the toggle joint back to its original extended positionand all of the parts of the device are restored to normal.

As stated above, it is sometimes desirable to be able to operate theregister with one or more of the cash drawers open. To do this all thatis necessary is to prevent the bell crank lever 41 from engaging the arm42 when a cash drawer is opened. This is accomplished by the pitman 60being thrown back so that the forward end of the slot 61 engages thestud 62 in the lower extension of the bell crank lever 41. The pitman isthrown back by turning the lock 63 shown in Fig. 3. Pivoted to theflange of the lock barrel is one end of a short link 64. The other endof the link is loosely riveted to a short arm 65 which is fastened tothe shaft 66 (Fig. 2). Attached to this shaft 66 is also an arm 67 towhich the forward end of the link 60 is pivotally attached. When thelock 63 is turned in a clockwise direction the shaft 66 is rocked andthe arm 67 throws the link 60 rearwardly so that the bell crank lever issupported in its normal position. The slot 45 in the pitman 44 isprovided so that even when the lock has been set as just described thetoggle can still drop, relieving the bell crank lever 41, the link 60and the lock mechanism controlling the movements of the link from anystrain caused from having to support the weight of the toggle.

In the above description and the accompanying drawings, the improvementhas been shown in connection with drawers arranged in two tiers.

In order to give a good idea of the working of the device a briefstatement will be given of what occurs on an operation of the machine.When a key is pressed it rocks the shaft 13, releasing the mechanism,and determines the position at which the differentially moved segment 26is to be placed. Through intermediate mechanism driven by the segmentthe finger shaft is rotated so that one of the drawer fingers attachedto the shaft is positioned to release the drawer corresponding to thekey pressed. The finger shaft is then lifted, causing the drawer latchwhich holds the drawer closed to be tripped and the drawer released.Each drawer when closed is in contact with the roll in one of the freejoints of a series of toggles and aids in holding the toggles in anextended position. When a drawer opens the toggle is no longer supportedat that point and collapses, thereby drawing down on the end to which itis attached of a sliding beam 52. This movement of the beam 52 istransmitted to an arm 48 rocking the shaft to which it is attached andraising the lever 71 and the link 44. This releases the bell cran klever 41 so the spring 43 can pull it up to bring the hook on the end ofthe lever into engagement with an arm fastened to the rock shaft 13,thereby holding the rock shaft against movement and making the machineinoperable. Closing the drawer forces the toggle back to extendedposition, and through the intervening mechanism, draws the hook of thebell crank lever 41 out of engagement with the arm on the rock shaft 13,thereby restoring the machine to normal condition ready for operation.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirablyadapted to fulfil the objects primarily stated, it is to be understoodthat it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form ofembodiment herein shown and described, as it is susceptible ofembodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claimswhich follow.

I claim- 1. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism, of a series of cash receptacles, and a singlelocking device coiiperating with said receptacles and arranged to lockthe operating mechanism when any one of the receptacles is opened.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism, of a series of cash receptacles, a single lockingdevice controlled by said receptacles and arranged to lock the operatingmechanism when any one of the receptacles is opened, and manipulativedevices whereby said locking device may be rendered ineffective.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism, of a series of cash receptacles, a single lookingdevice controlled by said receptacles and arranged to lock the operatingmechanism when any one of the receptacles is opened, and devicescomprising a key operated lock for disabling said locking devices whenit is desired to operate the operating mechanism with one or more of thereceptacles open.

4. In a machine of the class described the combination with an operatingmechanism therefor, of a plurality of normally inaccessible receptacles,manipulative devices for predetermining which receptacle is to berendered accessible on an operation of the operating mechanism, and asingle means locking the manipulative devices against manipulation whilea receptacle remains accessible.

In a machine of the class described, the combination with an operatingmechanism therefor; of a plurality of normally inaccessible cashdrawers; devices under control of Lie-1,754

which said drawers may .be selectively rendered accessible on operationof the operating mechanism; and a single means rendering saidcontrolling devices inoperable while a drawer remains accessible.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism therefor, of a plurality of normally inaccessiblecash drawers, devices under control of which said drawers may beselectively rendered accessible on operations of the operatingmechanism, means locking said controlling devices while a drawer remainsaccessible, and manipulative means for rendering said locking meansineffective when it is desired to have more than one drawer accessibleat the same time.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism therefor; of a plurality of normally inaccessiblereceptacles; devices under control of which said receptacles may beselectively rendered accessible on operations of the operatingmechanism; means rendering said controlling devices inoperative while areceptacle remains accessible; and means whereby restoring saidreceptacle to normal condition will render the aforesaid controllingdevices again operable.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a pluralityof normally inaccessible receptacles, of manipulative devicescontrolling the rendering of said receptacles-accessible; and a singlemeans controlled by any of the receptacles while accessible forpreventing operation of the manipulative devices.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a normallylocked main operating mechanism, of manipulative means for unlockingsaid mechanism; a plurality of normally inaccessible cash drawersarranged to be rendered accessible on operation of the operatingmechanism; and devices controlled by any accessible drawer forpreventing the unlocking of the operating mechanism, said devicescomprising a member to engage the locking mechanism and hold it toprevent unlocking.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a normallylocked operating mechanism therefor; of a plurality of normally closeddrawers; manipulative devices for unlocking the operating mechanism andpredeterinining which drawer is to be rendered accessible on anoperation of the operating mechanism; and means controlled by any drawerthat is accessible for rendering said manipulative devices inoperable.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism therefor; of a plurality of normally closed cashdrawers arranged to be selectively opened on operations of the operatingmechanism; devices comprising a rock shaft and normally locking theoperating mechanism; and means holding said rock shaft against movementand in a locking position while any of the cash drawers rema ins open.

In a machine of the class described, the combination with an operatingmechanism; of a plurality oi normally closed receptacles; a manipulativedevice for each receptacle under control of which its drawer my beopened on an operation. of the operating mechanism; and means madeeffective by the opening of the drawer rendering all of the manipulativedevices inoperable.

13. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism and n'ianipulative de ices; of a pluralit of drawers arranged to be selectively opened under control of said manipulativedevices by actuations of the operating mechanism; and de'ices comprisinga series or" toggles and connecting parts to prevent actuation ot theoperating mechanism while any of said drawers remains open.

1i. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism and manipulative devices; of a plurality of drawersarranged to be selectively opened under control of said manipulativedevices by actuation of the operating mechanism; means for locking theoperating mechanism when any of said drawers is opened; and devicescomprising series of toggles for disabling said locking means when thecash drawer is restored to normal position.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a/plurality of normally inaccessible cash drawers and a normally lockedoperating mechanism therefor; of manipulative devices for unlocking theoperating mechanism and determining which drawer is to be opened on anoperation of said mechanism; and means com prising series of toggles andcontrolled by the open drawer for preventing said manipulative devicesfrom unlocking the operating mechanism.

16. In a machine of the class described, the combination with aplurality of normally inaccessible cash drawers and a normally lockedoperating mechanism therefor; of manipulative devices for unlocking theoperating mechanism and determining which drawer is to be opened on anoperation of said mechanism; means preventing operation of saidmanipulative devices while a cash drawer is open; and means comprisingseries of toggles for disabling said preventing means when the drawer isclosed.

17. In a machine of the class described,

the combination with an operating mechanism; of a plurality of normallyinaccessible cash drawers; means for determining the cash drawer to berendered accessible upon an operation of the operating mechanism; andmeans comprising series of toggles controlled by the accessible cashdrawer for preventing the operation of the operating mechanism.

18. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism; of a series comprising three or more normallyinaccessible receptacles; means for selectively rendering saidreceptacles accessible on operations of the operating mechanism; and asingle means cooperating with said receptacles to render the operatingmechanism inoperable while any one of said receptacles remainsaccessible.

19. In a machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism; of normally inaccessible cash receptacles; meansfor rendering said receptacle accessible on operations of the operatingmechanism; and means comprising a toggle mechanism for locking theoperating mechanism so long as said receptacle remains accessible.

20. In a machine of the class described, the combination with aplurality of drawers normally closed but any one of which may be opened;of a single means controlled by the drawers and adapted when one of thedrawers is opened to prevent the opening of any other drawer until thefirst drawer is again closed.

21. Ina machine of the class described, the combination with anoperating mechanism and a plurality of cash drawers; of a single lockingmeans for the operating mechanism, said locking means being normallyinefi'ective; and means controlled by the cash drawers whereby openingany one of the plurality of drawers will render said locking meansefi'ectiv 22. The combination with a plurality of normally inaccessiblereceptacles, of means common to and controlled by the receptacles forpreventing access to more than one receptacle at a time.

23. The combination with a plurality of cash drawers normally closed butany one of which may be opened, of mechanism common to all the drawersheld in inefiective position by the drawers while all of the drawers areclosed but rendered etlective by the opening of any drawer to preventthe opening of a second drawer until the first is restored to normalcondition.

24. The combination with a plurality of cash drawers of latches for thedrawers, means for unlatching any desired drawer, means for opening anunlatched drawer, and means common to all the drawers and renderedeffective by the opening of any drawer whereby the unlatching of asecond drawer is prevented while a drawer is open.

25. The combination with an operating mechanism, of a plurality ofnormally inaccessible receptacles, means requiring an operation of theoperating mechanism whereby said receptacles may be selectively rendered accessible, a normally ineffective lock for the operatingmechanism, and means whereby rendering any one of the receptaclesaccessible renders said lock effective until the receptacle is restoredto normal condition.

26. The combination with an operating mechanism, of a plurality ofnormally inaccessible cash drawers, means requiring an operation of theoperating mechanism whereby said drawers may be selectively renderedaccessible, a normally ineffective lock for the operating mechanism, andmeans whereby rendering any one of the drawers accessible also renderssaid lock elfective until the drawer is restored to normal condi tion.

27. The combination with an operating mechanism, or" a plurality ofnormally inaccessible receptacles, means requiring an operation of theoperating mechanism whereby the receptacles may be selectively renderedaccessible, a lock normally preventing operation of the operatingmechanism, means for disabling said lock as a preliminary to anoperation, a second lock, said second lock being normally ineffective,and means whereby rendering a receptacle accessible will render thesecond lock effective to prevent disabling the first lock until theaccessible receptacle is restored to normal condition.

28. The combination with an operating mechanism, of a plurality ofnormally inaccessible cash drawers, means requiring an operation of theoperating mechanism whereby the drawers may be selectively renderedaccessible, a lock normally preventing operation of the operatingmechanism, means for disabling said lock as a preliminary to anoperation, a second lock, said second lock being normally ineffective,and means whereby rendering a drawer accessible will render the secondlock effective to prevent disabling the first lock until the accessibledrawer is restored to normal condition.

29. The combination with an operating mechanism, of a plurality ofnormally closed receptacles, means for opening the receptacles, aplurality of devices normally preventing said means from performingtheir function, means requiring an operation of the operating mecnanismfor disabling the preventing device for any desired receptacle therebyallowing same to be opened by the opening means, and means common to allof the receptacles and controlled by an open receptacle for preventingan operation of the operating mechanism until said receptacle is closed.

30. The combination with an operating mechanism, of a plurality of cashdrawers, latches for the drawers, means requiring an operation of theoperating mechanism for unlatching any desired drawer, means for openingthe unlatched drawer, and means common to all the drawers and controlledby the open drawer preventing operation of the operating mechanism untilthe drawer is closed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

R. C. GLAss, CARL BEUST.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

